TheTick

One day in 2001, I was having lunch with a friend and we were talking about the new fall shows. We discussed shows that we thought weren't going to make it as well as shows we really enjoyed. Towards the end of the meal we started to discuss The Tick and how we were both excited to see the live version that was premiering later in the season. I remember turning to my friend and saying, "Isn't there another show premiering on FOX later in the season?" We couldn't think of which show it was and so went back to discussing The Tick.

The show we were trying to think of was The Bernie Mac Show and five years after The Tick had come and gone Bernie's show had become one of the funniest family sitcoms on television.

Let's face it, science fiction on television is always a challenge, and more often than not, these series fail to find a big enough audience to stick around. That's why the year after Lost hit it big on just minor sci-fi elements, we had three ratings flops at once with Invasion, Threshold and Surface. And all three were good, for different reasons. So my question is why did none of them make Sci Fi Wire's list of the top 10 sci fi shows canceled too soon? Because Sci-Fi Wire liked Eerie, Indiana better!

Seriously though, while there were some good elements in their list, and I absolutely agree with their number one choice, there were some real problems and omissions as well. Wonderfalls ranked way too high and Homeboys in Outer Space didn't even make the list? Outrageous! So I've taken it upon myself to make my own list of The Top 10 Sci Fi Short-Lived Sci-Fi Shows That Weren't Pulitzer Worthy But Went Great With Popcorn. And I intentionally didn't include any of the shows on their list, because I'm acting like a spoiled brat and I don't want to play with their toys.

As I mentioned before, The Tick animated series is coming to DVD. At the time it wasn't clear what the exact release date would be, and while it's still not absolutely official yet, August 29 seems to be the date that's getting kicked around right now. The series, which aired as part of the FoxKids Saturday Morning Block for thirty-six episodes starting in 1994, featured Townsend Coleman as the voice of The Tick and was based on the short-lived series of comics by Ben Edlund. In all likelihood, Disney will release the entire season eventually. Thanks to Sean for the tip.

I know, I know, this news is a bit old, but stuff slips by sometimes and you have
to catch it later. In this case it was TV Shows On DVD's unofficial annoucement back in January that The Tick,
the 1994 animated series based on Ben Edlund's comic book, will be coming out on DVD this year. Disney, who owns
the rights, have not made an official annoucement, so we'll have to trust TVSODVD's super secret inside sources.

I hate to admit it, but The Tick didn't really impress me all that much, at least not at first. I had been
a huge fan of the comic books long before the animated series came out, and, perhaps unfairly, I had a hard time not
comparing it to the comics. Eventually I stopped making that unfair comparison and began to enjoy the show on its own
merit. Still, I think I prefer the comics more. I suppose some people felt the same way when the Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles got animated. It's hard to let go sometimes, but you learn.